WASHINGTON, Apr 22 (NNN-XINHUA) – Over 200 million shots of COVID-19 vaccines have been administered in the United States as of yesterday, according to the U.S. Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
U.S. President, Joe Biden, also announced that, the country has hit 200 million COVID-19 shots, a target he had set out to meet by the end of Apr.
Biden said, the country is entering a new phase in its vaccination efforts, as it starts to shift the focus from getting the vaccine to those most at risk to the general population.
“The time is now to open a new phase of this vaccination effort,” Biden said. “If you’ve been waiting for your turn, wait no longer. Now’s the time for everyone over 16 years of age to get vaccinated.”
About 215 million COVID-19 vaccine shots have been administered by yesterday, while more than 277 million vaccine doses have been distributed across the country, CDC data showed.
Currently there are about 87 million Americans fully vaccinated, accounting for 26.4 percent of the U.S. population, according to CDC data.
About 134 million Americans received at lease one COVID-19 shot, accounting for 40.5 percent of the population.
Among the fully vaccinated, 35 million are people 65 years of age or older, accounting for 65.6 percent, CDC data showed.
The U.S. has been ramping up vaccine rollout since last Dec. There are three COVID-19 vaccines authorised for emergency use in the country.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration authorised the one developed by American drugmaker Pfizer, in partnership with German company BioNTech, and another by American Moderna, in Dec last year.
Johnson & Johnson’s COVID-19 vaccine was approved for emergency use on Feb 27, but it was halted for use last week, after rare blood clotting cases emerged in six recipients.
According to CDC data, currently a total of 113 million Pfizer/BioNTech doses and 94 million Moderna doses have been administered in the country, while 7.9 million Johnson & Johnson shots have been administered before its pause.– NNN-XINHUA
